Georgia Landscape Contractors Cope With Drought, Water Restrictions

Pam Knox, assistant state climatologist for Georgia, said predictions continue to indicate the possibility of higher than normal temperatures throughout the summer months, which may lead local water utility companies to tighten watering restrictions based on available storage and demand patterns.

Current restrictions for Georgia include a ban on outdoor water use from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the 15-county metropolitan Atlanta area and other selected counties and from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the rest of the state. Additionally, these restrictions are on an odd-even basis, which means homes or businesses with even-numbered street addresses may water for outdoor purposes on even-numbered calendar days during non-restricted hours only and properties with odd-numbered addresses may water on odd-numbered calendar days. Unfortunately, that schedule holds true for companies servicing those properties as well.

COPING WITH RESTRICTIONS. The watering schedule has made plant maintenance a bit tougher for OneSource Landscape & Golf Services, Atlanta, Ga. However, Brandon Baxter, district manager, said the company has come up with a solution to that situation. "Something we’ve been doing is actually filling up our spray tanks that we spray pesticides out of," he explained. "We’ll just rinse them out, clean them out real good and fill them up with water before the actual watering ban time comes into play, and we’ll have the rest of the day to water."

Watering restrictions also apply to new plant and turf installations, which presents problems establishing those new installations. Currently, Baxter said the restrictions offer 24 to 48 hours of normal watering for new plant installations and a week of normal watering for new turf installations, but after that, the odd-even and time-restricted watering rules are set in place, causing a hardship on the new installs.

With such a short establishment period, Bebe Erbesfield, office manager, Greenmark Landscaping, Atlanta, Ga., said, "That’s not enough time."

Baxter also notices the effect reduced watering is having on new installations compared to established plants. "It hasn’t really affected well-established plant materials much because generally, if you have irrigation, you have enough time throughout the night to water, but the new stuff is really taking a hit," he said.

Both OneSource and Greenmark have clauses in their contracts that say the companies are not responsible for acts of God or nature, including drought. That is an important clause for any landscape installation company regardless of drought conditions. "That’s been in our contract from day one," explained Erbesfield. "It’s not because of the drought."

OneSource has had to use that clause more and more lately with limited relief from Georgia’s drought. Although the drought leads to more sales of plant materials and labor, Baxter said it is not in the company’s best interest to have to replace plants and charge its customers more money. "The main concern and problem that we’re having is that when we have a contract or we have a customer we work for and plants die, we have to replace them, and of course we have to charge extra for that," he explained. "It’s just keeping the customer happy and understanding why things die and why we have to charge them for something that died that we may have installed. [The drought is] just putting stress on everybody trying to keep things alive."

LIMITING PLANT LOSSES. "All throughout metro Atlanta I’ve noticed nurseries are going with more drought-tolerant and xeriscape plant materials, desert type material, that really don’t need much water and prefer it dry," observed Baxter.

He said OneSource has picked up on that trend to reduce the amount of loss on new installations.

Additionally, Baxter said OneSource has increased its use of a wetting agent, which absorbs about 10 times its size in water weight and slowly releases it throughout the day. "It really helps out in the drought situations," explained Baxter. "You have to water one time, and instead of the water completely running of, the wetting agent helps it out."

Erbesfield said Greenmark uses a product for trees that utilizes the same concept of gradual, longer-term watering. The product is a fill bag with tiny holes that is placed near the base of a newly installed tree. Water from the bag is slowly released to the tree, reducing run-off and promoting root establishment. Greenmark highly recommends this product to commercial accounts.

Greenmark also relies on customer communication to help reduce plant loss. Erbesfield said clients are advised to shoot for fall, winter or early spring installations instead of summer to improve the chances of plant establishment. The company also encourages clients to have irrigation systems installed and provides watering instructions that explain how to judge what needs watered.

NO RELIEF IN SIGHT. Rainfall that much of Georgia received in March and April has not continued, and streamflow levels throughout the state have begun to drop. While federally managed lakes and reservoirs benefited from the rainfall and remain full, Lakes Lanier and Hartwell, two of the state's largest lakes, remain well below their average elevations. Lake Lanier is approximately 8 feet below its average level and Lake Hartwell is 6 feet below.

While watering bans are typically revoked during the winter, Baxter said the current bans have been in effect since last spring. "They didn’t let up on the water during the winter, so I can imagine it’s only going to get worse during the summer," he said.